23/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - Morocco has postponed until a more propitious time the meeting scheduled with Spain in Madrid on 23 September, which was expected to relaunch dialogue against a backdrop of tense bilateral relations. The Moroccan foreign minister Mohammed Benaissa has sent a letter to his Spanish counterpart Ana de Palacio noting that the meeting had become "inopportune", following an incident connected with the dispute over Parsley Island, off the Moroccan coast. A Spanish army helicopter landed there on Sunday, despite an agreement before the summer (mediated by the US) to not send any military force there. Mr Ben Aissa said this was an unacceptable act and the Moroccan authorities were querying the true motivations and aims of such action immediately ahead of the meeting scheduled between the two countries' foreign ministers. Spain described the event as a minor incident that Morocco was using as an excuse to postpone the meeting. The Spanish defence minister said the event was disproportionate since the helicopter had not landed on the island and had only been involved in a low altitude flight without landing, in order to check that Moroccan soldiers had not landed there. The Spanish defence minister said a Moroccan patrol vessel had been detected one mile off the island. He said that the Spanish government hoped the Moroccan foreign minister would visit Madrid as soon as possible.